Filing cabinet and latching mechanism



y 1956 w. H. KAFFERLIN ETAL 3,252,746

FILING CABINET AND LATCHING MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS:

WILLIAM H. A u

GENE 6. HA 5 BY TRAVERS 0 $1 a Filed Aug. 13, 1964 May 24, 1966 w. H.KAFFERLIN ETAL 3,252,746

FILING CABINET AND LATCHING MECHANISM Filed Aug. 13, 1964 2 SheetsSheet2 IN VENTOR.

WILLIAM H. KAFFERLI N GENE a. HASBROUCK BY TRAVERS o. STOHLBERG WM M/p/United States Patent 3,252,746 lFllLlING CABHNET AND LATfll-IINGMECHANISM William H. Kalferlin, Spring (Ireek, and Gene B. Hasbroncirand Travers Q. Stolllberg, Corry, Pa., assignors to Corry JamestownCorporation, Corry, Pa., 21 corporation of New York Filed Aug. 13, 1964,Ser. No. 389,411 Claims. (Cl. 312-2343) This invention relates to ahandle and latching arrangement for sliding drawers of desks, cabinets,and the like, and is more particularly directed to a handle thatincorporates a finger actuated latch mechanism by which the operator mayreleasethe drawer for withdrawal from a closed or confined position.

Drawer latches heretofore devised have been provided with an actuatingmember located adjacent a handle or pull. The purpose of such a latch isto prevent inad vertent partial opening of a drawer which might occur asa result of vibration, too vigorous movement of a drawer in a closedposition and other causes, It has been discovered that a latch mechanismmay be incorporated in a handle, the handle being recessed into thefront of the drawer so that as the operator inserts his fingers into therecess, the tips of his fingers engage the latching mechanism andfurther movement of his fingers into the recess unlatches the drawer ina natural or instinctive manner. Thus, the operator, in grasping thehandle, automatically engages the latching mechanism with his fingers.The handle herein has the additional advantage that the actuatingmechanism is concealed and does not interfere with the aestheticappearance of the drawer.

Objection has occasionally been raised with respect to combined handleand latch structures; namely, that their generalstructure is such as todistract from rather than enhance the general appearance of a drawerfront. This is due, in part, to the fact that the operative memberrested against the face of the drawer front and repeated movementthereof scratched or completely wore off the paint or other finish fromthe drawer, thus creating an unsightly blemish or scar.

It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide adrawer latch in combination with a handle and latch operating memberwhich is simple in construction, economical to manufacture, evenlyoperated, and readily installed.

Another object of the invention is to provide a drawer latch operativemember which is so supported that it is completely concealed from view,yet may be readily and conveniently engaged by the fingers of theoperator when grasping the drawer handle.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a combinationdrawer latch and handle wherein the handle comprises a member recessedinto the front of a drawer and the latch mechanism is disposed insidethe recess.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a drawer latchoperative member which is installed at a point behind the front verticalsurface of the drawer in order to conceal the latching mechanism insidethe drawer front.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved recessedindex card inside the combination latch and handle.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be more fullyunderstood from a consideration of the following specification, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a partial front view of a drawer according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial side view of the drawer and latching mechanism;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 moved to position to release thedrawer for withdrawal;

FIG. 5 is a schematic View of the latching mechanism;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged partial view of the latching mechanism;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the actuating mechanism; and

FIG. 8 is a front perspective view showing the actuating and indexingsystem in combination.

The structure of the drawer disclosed herein has the advantages ofappearance of the drawer shown in Patent No. 3,120,984, yet retains thereliable latching structure such as disclosed in Patent No. 2,732,240.

Now with more particular reference to the drawings, the reference number10 generally designates a conventional file drawer front to which thepresent invention is applied. It will be understood that the entirelatch structure is concealed behind the front panel of the drawer and isdisposed in the space between the front panel 11 and the inner closingplate 18 so that when the drawer is viewed from the front, the viewersees only the front panel with the rectangular opening 12 therein andthe rearwardly inclined plate 17 inside the opening. The display plate30 may be used to support a suitable index card or the like.

The drawer is shown supported on the drawer guides 13 which are ofconventional design and are provided with a notch at the front edgewhich is defined at its extreme front portion by the keeper 26. Thiskeeper is engaged by the hook 24 on the latch 23. The drawer and drawerguides are generally of the construction shown in Patent No. 2,732,240and, as indicated herein, the latch 23 may move upward when the draweris moved to closed position and the hook may slide along the uppersurface of the keeper when the drawer is moved into closed positionuntil the hook passes the keeper and the drawer is in fully closedposition as shown in FIG. 3.

The latching mechanism is made up principally of three operative partswhich are the actuator bar 15, the conmeeting link 16, and the latch 23.The latch 23 is generally U-shaped. Hook 24 forms one leg of the U. Theintermediate part 40 of the U-shaped latch has a slot which has a notch42 which receives a guide member 43.

The leg 46 of latch 23 is received between the legs of the channel whichmakes up link 16.

The actuating assembly is made up principally of the bracket 32,actuator bar 15, and connecting link 16.

The bracket 32 supports the actuator bar and connecting link on thedrawer. The bracket may be made of a die casting or plastic molding andit has the two laterally, generally parallel disposed sides 36 which areconnected together by the upwardly and inwardly inclined display plate30. The bracket 32 is shown supported on the front panel 11 on theinside thereof by means of small flanges 2t) which are welded to theinner side of the front panel 11 and extend into slots 34 in the sides36.

Each of the sides 36 has an opening 22 therein, which is shaped like apiece of pie. These openings have a lower downwardly and forwardlyinclined side 38 and an upwardly and inwardly inclined side 39 thatconverge and meet at the side adjacent the file and an arcuate side 40connects the sides 38 and 39 at their ends opposite where they meet.

The actuator bar 15 rests on the lower side 38 of the opening 22 when inunactuated position. Thus, the actuator bar is suspended between the twosides 36 of the bracket and rests on the lower side 38 thereof. A handle14 is supported inside the opening in the drawer front and it has arearwardly extending flange 20 which overlies the actuator bar 15. Anindex card may be supported on the plate 17 which rests at its lower endon the flange 41 on the bracket and at its upper end on the innerclosing plate 18. The actuator bar normally inclines downwardly andrearw-ardly as shown in FIGS. 2 and 8. As indicated in FIGS. 3 and 5,the actuator bar 15 has an extension 60 on its left end which isreceived in opening 45. The opening 45 has enlarged ends 27 and theextension 60 has an upwardly turned end 61. The actuator bar 15 has anupwardly turned car 21 on one end which prevents it from movinglaterally out of the openings in the bracket. The actuator bar 15 isreceived in the openings 22 and its end 25 is turned up and extendsthrough the opening 45 in the connecting link 16. The connecting link 16extends downwardly and has the hook 24 connected to it. Hook 24 has itsinner end 28 attached to the latch 23. Thus, when the actuator bar rocksin openings 22, the actuator bar will rotate and it will raise and lowerthe connecting link 16 and thereby raise and lower the latch 23 into andout of engagement with the keeper 40. The handle 14 may be made ofsuitable design to provide a pleasing appearance and, also, to provide astructurally rigid finger engaging member. The rearwardly extendingflange 20 of the handle 14 adds strength to the handle 14. This handleis disposed in slot 34.

The plate 17 is made of clear plastic material and may be suitablyfinished to provide a pleasing appearance for the inside of the cavityjust behind the rectangular opening 12 in the front panel 11. The plate17 is supported on the display plate 30 and may overlie index card 31.

The foregoing specification sets forth the invention in its preferredpractical forms but the structure shown is capable of modificationwithin a range of equivalents without departing from the invention whichis to be understood is broadly novel as is commensurate with theappended claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. In combination, a file drawer and a latch mecharnsm,

a drawer having a front defined by a front panel and an inner closingplate disposed in general parallel relation and defining a spacetherebetween,

an opening in said front panel,

an actuator bar extending laterally of said drawer and having an axisdisposed laterally of said drawer, said actuator bar being disposedbetween said front panel and said inner closing plate above said openingto rotate about said aXis,

a latching member supported on said drawer for securing said drawer to acabinet,

said actuator bar having an extension received in an opening in saidlatching member connecting said actuator bar to said latching member tomove said latching member up when said actuator bar is rotated in onedirection and to'move s-aid latching member down when said actuator baris moved in another direction,

said actuator bar being adapted to be engaged by the fingers of anoperator inserted in said opening to rotate said actuator bar about saidaxis whereby said latch may be moved to release said drawer.

2. The combination recited in claim 1 wherein a handle member isattached to said cabinet and defines the upper side of said opening.

3. The combination recited in claim 1 wherein an upwardly and rearwardlyextending plate defines the rear side of said opening,

said upwardly and rearwardly extending plate being disposed adjacentsaid front panel at its lower edge and adjacent said inner closing plateat its upper edge.

4. In combination a drawer having a front and a latch means therefor,

said latch means comprising a bracket attached to said drawer front,

said bracket having side members extending from said drawer front,

an opening in each said side member,

each said opening being defined by an upper side and a lower sidediverging from each other,

an actuating bar made of flat material resting at each end on the saidlower side of each said opening,

a latch,

means attaching said lock means to said actuating bar,

and an opening in said drawer front whereby access may be had to saidactuating bar.

5. The combination recited in claim 4 wherein means is provided forsupporting an index card on said bracket inside said opening in saiddrawer front.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,934,397 11/1933Bales 312-320 X 1,963,954 6/1934 Clark 312-320 2,335,391 11/1943 Cushing312-320 X 2,732,240 1/1956 Hutzelman 292- 3,107,958 10/1963 Robbins312-320 3,120,984 2/1964 Stohlberg 312-320 FOREIGN PATENTS 568,24312/1958 Canada.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner.

CHANCELLOR E. HARRIS, FRANK B. SHERRY,

Examiners.

1. IN COMBINATION, A FILE DRAWER AND A LATCH MECHANISM, A DRAWER HAVINGA FRONT DEFINED BY A FRONT PANEL AND AN INNER CLOSING PLATE DISPOSED INGENERAL PARALLEL RELATION AND DEFINING A SPACE THEREBETWEEN, AN OPENINGIN SAID FRONT PANEL, AN ACTUATOR BAR EXTENDING LATERALLY OF SAID DRAWERAND HAVING AN AXIAL DISPOSED LATERALLY OF SAID DRAWER, SAID ACTUATOR BARBEING DISPOSED BETWEEN SAID FRONT PANEL AND SAID INNER CLOSING PLATEABOVE SAID OPENING TO ROTATE ABOUT SAID AXIS, A LATCHING MEMBERSUPPORTED ON SAID DRAWER FOR SECURING SAID DRAWER TO A CABINET, SAIDACTUATOR BAR HAVING AN EXTENSION RECEIVED IN AN OPENING IN SAID LATCHINGMEMBER CONNECTING SAID ACTUATOR BAR TO SAID LATCHING MEMBER TO MOVE SAIDLATCHING MEMBER UP WHEN SAID ACTUATOR BAR IS ROTATED IN ONE DIRECTIONAND TO MOVE SAID LATCHING MEMBER DOWN WHEN SAID ACTUATOR BAR IS MOVED INANOTHER DIRECTION, SAID ACTUATOR BAR BEING ADAPTED TO BE ENGAGED BY THEFINGERS OF AN OPERATOR INSERTED IN SAID OPENING TO ROTATE SAID ACTUATORBAR ABOUT SAID AXIS WHEREBY SAID LATCH MAY BE MOVED TO RELEASE SAIDDRAWER.